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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28489683">CatOnTheWeb's Janurwby snippets</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatOnTheWeb/pseuds/CatOnTheWeb'>CatOnTheWeb</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, F/F, F/M, I have no idea what I'm doing, JanuRWBY, Minor Character Death, Tags as we go, but let's try and do this, fuck Adam Taurus, no beta we die like idiots!, prompt-a-day</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:35:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,720</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28489683</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatOnTheWeb/pseuds/CatOnTheWeb</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of fic snippets for Janurwby. I want to hit every day for these things, lets see if this can happen!</p><p>Individual tags at the beginning of each chapter. I don't anticipate anything dark, controversial, or trigger-y, but that might change, so keep an eye on the tags just to be safe!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Favorite Outfit - Atlas Ruby</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>mild Nuts and Dolts</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ruby and Penny wind up talking about clothing.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Ruby, why do you wear a cloak?”</p><p>“Hmm?” Ruby glanced over her shoulder, away from the mirror. Her hair had gotten kind of long, and honestly was in need of a cut.</p><p>“I’m sorry Penny, what was that?” She’d been lost in thought, thinking about whether they had enough time for her to go to the barbers or not. It was already getting kind of late, and they had to be up early tomorrow for the mission at the old Dust mine. Honestly, the few days of rest they’d had since getting to Atlas had been wonderful, but she was looking forward to getting back out into the field. It was hard to stay on task when her thoughts kept going back to other things.</p><p>“You’re cloak,” Penny said. “I was wondering as to why you’re always wearing one for.” She gestured to the length of red cloth, hanging from Ruby’s shoulders and down to her calves.</p><p>“Ah, well,” Ruby chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. “It’s kinda my style, you know? A brave huntress, ready to leap to the defense of others, cloak billowing in the wind like the cape of a comic book hero.” It was a bit embarrassing, describing herself like that, but it was what Ruby was going for when she’d updated her wardrobe. A huntress was so much more than her looks, sure, but images were ideas that people latched onto in times of trouble. It’d be silly to think about trying to save people without thinking about the image you present.</p><p>“Oh I most certainly agree,” Penny said. “I asked my father if I could have one when he rebuilt me, but my thrusters kept setting it on fire! I wound up crashing several times.” A broad smile stretched across her freckled face as she spoke, the cute expression at total odds with her words.</p><p>But that was just one of the redheaded girl’s many positive points.</p><p>“But what I meant,” Penny said, shaking Ruby out of her thoughts. “Was what caused you to adopt it in the first place? As far as I can tell, the red cloak has been a consistent part of your attire for many years now, going by all the files on you.”</p><p>“Uhh what? Files on me?” Should she be concerned about that? Unbidden, Ruby’s mind went back to some of the...troubling things she’d seen going on in Mantle’s streets.</p><p>“Public records and news reports,” Penny clarified. “Like your year photos at Signal Academy, and the videos of you in the Patch Isle Young Combatant Tournament.”</p><p>“Oh,” Ruby wasn’t going to think about what it meant for Penny to have trawled through the CCT database for her. She had to have done it back before the Vytal Festival, so she’d probably just been bored, or eager to find out more about her new friends. Nothing deeper there, nothing to read into. At all. Nope.</p><p>“Uh well, I kinda got the idea from my mom,” Ruby said.<br/>
“Really?” Penny perked up. “I did not know that. It’s nice to know there are still things I can learn about you!” Her eyes widened. “Not that I do not think I do not know enough about you. But it is always enjoyable to see new facets of you in every interaction we have. I hope we can have many more”</p><p>Ruby coughed into her fist, firmly steering her mind away from the thoughts she’d had several weeks ago when she’d still believed that Penny had- nope, moving on.</p><p>“Well yeah, a lot of my old outfit was based off of her.”</p><p>“How so?” Penny asked.</p><p>“Well uh, the corset, the combat skirt, the blouse, the stalkings, the boots, and of course the cloak,” Ruby counted the points off on her fingers. “Even my emblem, really. Back when I was starting out, I kind of imagined her as like- the perfect huntress, an ideal to aspire to and aim for.”</p><p>“That is a spectacular sentiment!” Penny said. She tilted her head to the side, eyes running up and down Ruby. “It seems you’re keeping up with that goal.”</p><p>Ruby glanced down at herself. Well, her outfit was a little like her old one. Fingerless gloves to keep dexterity while giving her a better grip on Crescent Rose. A new corset because, well, alright she liked to feel pretty and she thought it looked nice. A shorter skirt with shorts underneath, meant to flatter and hips because she might have been hoping Penny might notice it and might comment on it and she had in a way but that was as an outfit as a whole in relation to-</p><p>“I mean yeah, but it’s actually pretty different from how she used to look.” Ruby locked those thoughts away with everything else she didn’t know how to deal with. Maybe once they were done she could address those feelings. But not now. “I’ve kinda made it my own, I think.”</p><p>Penny’s lips stretched wide into a beautiful, open mouth grin. “Of course you have, it only makes sense for you to take your inspirations in their own directions. You are the most amazing Huntress I know, so it’s only fitting.”</p><p>Oop there were those thoughts again, rushing to fill her cheeks with warmth and blood and-</p><p>“Are you thinking of doing anything with your hair?” Penny said, cutting off the thoughts before they could even really form. “I can help with that if you want! I took a hairdressing course back when we were still prototyping my first body!”</p><p>Ruby blinked. “You took a hairdressing course?”</p><p>“It seemed interesting!” Penny said, not even flinching.</p><p>Ruby chuckled. Yeah, that was Penny for you. Strange and wholesome and so gosh darn endearing. She really hadn’t changed all that much.</p><p>A knot of something unclenched inside Ruby’s chest, and she smiled at her cute, dorky, freckle faced friend. “Sure thing, Penny, I’d be happy to have you cut my hair.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Favorite Soundtrack Song - Smile</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A smile can mean a lot of things, depending on context</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ilia Amitola, character study</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ilia stared up at the building in front of her. It was big and blocky in that way everything on Atlas seemed to be, white and blue stone mixed metal and technology in an intentionally composite way meant to draw the eye. The air was warm, a wonderfully comfortable temperature that was bizarre in Solitas’s arctic clime. The city of dreams really was something else. It made her so envious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her skin shivered. She closed her eyes, breathed in slowly, and counted backward from ten. Her heart rate slowed, her temper dimmed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ilia opened her eyes and glanced around. No one was looking at her oddly or anything like that. Good, no change. Wouldn’t do to mess that up on her first day. Now she just had to go up these steps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The chameleon Faun- no, the human girl, adjusted the straps of her backpack, smiled, and walked up the steps to her first day of class.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ilia stared uneasily at the whip sword she’d just been handed. It was an inactive, the bulky pistol-grip sitting heavy in her palms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The whip form’s a little on the complicated side,” the senior White Fang member said. “But practice with it and you’ll get the hang of it in time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” Ilia muttered. She wrapped her hand around the grip, finger coming to rest inside the trigger guard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whoa careful there,” the senior member placed his hand on hers. “First rule of gun safety, only touch the trigger when you’re ready for it to go off. More than a few accidental deaths’ve happened because someone wasn’t careful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, sorry!” Ilia said, flushing an embarrassed pink. She still paused a lot before letting a change take over. She’d spent so long keeping her skin in its normal brown color that it was practically second nature to hold the changes back. But it felt good, letting them run free, not having to pause or check herself around others.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright.” The masked man didn’t even blink. “You’re still new, getting to learn these things. Someone as smart as you, with your skills? You’ll pick it up right quick.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ilia nodded. That’s why she was here, that’s what she’s aiming for. Six years spent living among humans, socializing, talking, pretending to be one of them. Six years making friends, growing close, seeing them laugh and joke, thinking that they might not be too different from her family down in Mantle.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Dumb animal should have been more careful, don’t you think?’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Oh, cut him a break, it was just a </span>
  </em>
  <span>minor </span>
  <em>
    <span>incident after all.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>No.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, she’d seen past the facade. She knew the truth, better than most even. There wasn’t any other path for her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Ilia just smiled up at the man wearing the White Fang mask. The expression was all teeth.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I chose Smile because, well, it’s so powerful and heartbreaking at the same time. Ilia deserves to have that same kind of anger, but yet at the same time it’s chilling to see how her parents’ message of love and support and hope for the future got turned into this twisted ball of hate and anger.</p><p>Whenever I listen too closely to this song I begin to tear up a bit.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Favorite Villain - James Ironwood and Salem</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The General of Atlas faces down the Queen of the Grimm</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Character Death</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>James’s breath was ragged. His lungs weren’t working. They were struggling, stuttering every other breath. Even the prosthetics built in his right side, meant to regulate the flow of oxygen, weren’t helping, weren’t doing anything.</p><p>It was so hard to breath, so hard to think.</p><p>It put the general in mind of that battle, the one that had changed his life, so far back now.</p><p>Just like then, James forced himself to stand, forced himself to rise to his feet. He was James Ironwood, General of Atlas, leader of the greatest military in the world, the best hope for Remnant, the only one who stood a chance of making the hard choices and doing what was necessary. He couldn’t fail, couldn’t stop.</p><p>Not yet.</p><p>Not until they’d achieved victory.</p><p>The Grimm were all around him, snapping, snarling creatures of white and black. But they didn’t attack. They just circled, prowling through the ruins of the Atlas tower.</p><p>James’s grip tightened on Due Process, the mate white revolver as battered and scared as its wielder. There wasn’t any ammunition left in it, but that didn’t matter. It could still be used as a club, in a pinch. And it would likely be used in that way until it broke. Then James would be left with nothing but his fists.</p><p>“Still alive?” The words were barely a question, asked in a voice so uninterested that it reminded James of asking after the status of a riot control in Mantle. The woman stepped out from the ranks of the Grimm, just as terrible and monstrous as the projection she’d sent into his office. Bone white skin, marked with carmine veins that snaked their way along the edges of a striking face, like something out of a nightmare. Deep red eyes set into black sclera, emotionless and without pity, fixed on James like he was just some insect.</p><p>“I must admit, I’m surprised to see you still standing,” Salem said.</p><p>James tried to smirk, but it came out bloody and ragged. “I’m full of those, I think.”</p><p>“Hmm, not particularly,” Salem stepped to the side, slowly circling James as she walked. “I’ve met many who lasted longer than I expected. It’s a common trait in humans, fighting all the harder with even a shred of hope burning inside them. I simply thought you were without it by now. A hopeful man would still think he had a chance.”</p><p>“It’s more than a chance. No matter what it takes, no matter what I need to do, I will stop you.” The airfleet was still fighting up in the sky above. When he got the chance, he could get away, call a Manta squadron and-</p><p>“No.” Salem lifted a hand.</p><p>Light slammed into James’s chest, and he screamed.</p><p>-----------------</p><p>Salem stared dispassionately as the corpse fell to the ground, then walked away.</p><p>In life, James Ironwood hadn’t been anything special. Just another little man who thought himself mighty for the position he held. Who thought himself brave for the suffering he made others bear. Who thought himself clever as he danced at the whims of his enemies. Who thought himself the hero of some grand narrative, one of the ‘great men’ upon whom history was shaped and turned.</p><p>He was just a pawn, easily pushed and easily broken.</p><p>The Queen of the Grimm didn’t even spare him a second thought as she moved further into the bowels of Atlas, and towards the Vault of the Winter Maiden. The real threats still needed to be dealt with.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>James and Salem aren't just my favorite RWBY villains, they're some of my favorite villains in general. They're just presented and developed so well, bits and pieces that add up into stunning, well rounded characters that act in completely believable, breathtaking ways. </p><p>My original plan was to have more of a conversation between James and Salem, but then I realized that part of the point of James whole character is how he seems himself as the hero, while to Salem he's just an obstacle, a simple piece that responds in predictable ways and is an almost trivial foe to overcome.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Favorite Ship - Nuts & Dolts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Nuts &amp; Dolts</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a bit chilly today. Then again, it was winter, so that made sense, really. It was why she was wearing a coat and all.</p><p>Ruby stood on the street corner, looking up and down the road. No sign of her yet. Same as two minutes ago when Ruby had last checked. Was she running late? That was a possibility, caught in traffic maybe. But wait no, she was a huntress, why would traffic ever matter in terms of getting around? Besides, running late wasn’t like her at all. Unless there was someone in need of help or assistance, then of course she’d be running late because she stopped to help. But what if it wasn’t a willing stop? Maybe she was in trouble? But what kind of trouble could slow her down? Maybe Ruby should go looking. But what if she was just running late and then got here to find Ruby gone? Would she just assume Ruby had ditched their first date? Then she’d feel stood up and rejected, and then she’d want to break up and then-</p><p>“Salutations, Girlfriend Ruby!” Penny shouted from right behind Ruby.</p><p>The red clad girl yelped, whirled around in surprise, and almost tripped over own booted feet.</p><p>Penny caught her with a single hand around the waist, and Ruby’s cheeks flushed with heat.</p><p>“H-hey, Penny,” she said. “I was starting to get worried.”</p><p>“I apologize for that.” Penny stepped back and allowed Ruby to stand straighter. “I hope I did worry you over much.”</p><p>“Oh no, pfft, it’s fine,” Ruby said. “So, uh...wanna get going?”</p><p>“Certainly,” Penny said, smiling with her whole body -eyes closed, standing tip-toe, hands fluttering out to the sides from her otherwise straight arms.</p><p>As the two started walking to their destination, however, silence filled the air. Yang had suggested meeting up a couple blocks from the cafe, give themselves time to walk and talk before they got there, but now Ruby couldn’t even think about what to say.</p><p>Just awkward silence. Empty space that just, streeetched on and made Ruby feel like she should really do something to fill it.</p><p>“So, um, how was your day, Penny?” Ruby almost winced at the words. The only way she could have been more generic was if she’d commented on the weather.</p><p>“It is certainly much better and more pleasurable now that I am here with you,” Penny said. Her fingers laced together with Ruby’s and she almost melted. Penny just spoke from the heart without even thinking, not even a flinch as she said the sappiest, most cliche couple’s line ever and meant it with all earnesty. How the heck was she supposed to respond to that? Her girlfriend was so cute it just wasn’t fair.</p><p>“What are you thinking of to eat?” Penny said.</p><p>Ruby shrugged. “I don’t know, I haven’t been to this Cafe before. But JNOR’ve been there plenty of times. They said the cinnamon rolls are really good, so I’m probably gonna grab at least two.”</p><p>“I might go for something else,” Penny said. “After all, I already have the best cinnamon roll right here!” And then she leaned in and pecked Ruby on the cheek.</p><p>Really, really not fair.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Not used to writing just fluff pieces. I think it turned out nice and sweet, but then again I'm biased because I wrote it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Favorite Semblance & Weapon - Glyphs and Hush</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Schnee Manor is a place of stillness.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>some fighting, but this is RWBY so it shouldn't be a bother at all.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The hall was quiet.</p><p>The only sounds were the distant crash of thunder, the faint cries of Grimm, and the muted buzzing of Manta fighters. Through the walls of the manor, it was almost like there was no sound at all. Cut off from the city, from the rest of the world, the property sat as an island in a sea of chaos. Portraits hung in the hall, some depicting landscapes or art pieces, while others displayed a collection of individuals in various stages of life. White hair, blue eyes, porcelain skin, and cold, expressionless faces. The walls were painted a uniform dusty blue -so muted as to be almost grey at times- with stark white trimming unmarked by dirt, dust, or age. For all that this place was a house, it was not a home. It was a mausoleum, a prison of stagnant oppression.</p><p>Not a single thing disturbed the stillness. </p><p>An armored giant crashed through a wall and into the hallway. Composed of wispy, ethereal mist that glowed with light, the giant took up the entire space of the hall. Yet it moved with deceptive grace and dexterity, the great claymore cleaving through the air like a dancer’s ribbon.</p><p>It’s target, a tiny slip of a woman of white and pink and brown, danced between the strikes. Bows and pirouettes, twirls and shimmies, for all the near hits she made her moves look effortless. To the giant’s sword she had but a lace parasol, soft and delicate like the one who wielded it. With a flick of her wrist it would open and be a shield, then it would close and serve as a rapier. From the tip a blade darted out, again and again stabbing into the joints of the giant’s armor like a sewing needle. In and out. In and out. So fast it could be barely followed.</p><p>The giant did not stop at the strikes. Instead, it strode forward, harying it’s foe, pressing her back again and again. Glyphs formed in the air around the combatants, and from them came spears of ice, gouts of flame, percussive blasts. They served as walls, blocking and limiting the dancing woman whose parasol could do nothing against them.</p><p>Behind the giant came another woman. White hair, blue eyes, porcelain skin, and a furious face overcome with rage.</p><p>The woman followed after her giant of misty light, hands gesturing and wrists flicking again and again, summoning more glyphs to aid and direct in the fight against the dancing woman.</p><p>This was not a happy home. It was full of pain and tears and screams, but it would not stay that way.</p><p>Weiss Schnee refused to let it stay that way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The Semblance wasn't the hardest choice for me. I love the versatility of Weiss's Semblance, how she's grown in her use of it and how, even when its almost her entire style, there are still so many uses for it.</p><p>The weapon took a bit more thinking on, but I've always loved Neo's aesthetic, and while Hush is very simple compared to stuff like Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang and Gambol Shroud, it is incredibly appealing to me as well.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Favorite Location - Amity Colosseum</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amity is a symbolic place. Large and imposing, with stadium seats that could sit tens of thousands. Even empty, it is filled with the weight of expectation, of the eyes of every citizen within the Four Kingdoms staring down expectantly on those who stood upon the stage. Tradition hung heavy in the air, draped with banners and iconography. Glory and valor lived hand in hand in this place, a monument of battle built in the name of peace.</p><p>The frame of the Colosseum had been laid down near eighty years ago, with the full cooperation of the finest minds of Vale, Vacuo, Mistral, and Atlas, but even in the modern day it was a marvel of advanced technology. Every two years, when it made its journey from storage to the next Kingdom to host the Vytal festival, it was updated and refurbished. Old seating would be scrubbed down and repainted, aging systems would be overhauled or replaced with newest advancements in software and hardware. The artificial biomes would be touched up and quality checked, staff and functionaries making sure again and again that there would be no risk to the contestants. Shipments of premium dust would be delicately placed into the flight system, engineers and maintenance staff knowing that everything they did would be scrutinized and judged by countless others.</p><p>In many ways, this enduring construct is a Ship of Theseus. Barely anything remained of the original arena, but still it has endured, traveling across Remnant again and again, always called Amity Colosseum no matter how different it becomes, no matter how much it changes. It is an enduring symbol of unity, a legacy as old as the Time of Peace.</p><p>And in that legacy sat the double standard of this day and age. For Amity had been created, and was maintained by human hands, at the behest of human leaders, in the aftermath of a human war.</p><p>The Faunus had been, and still were, involved in the process, but never as equals. The dust and minerals that feed the great monument are extracted from Faunus labor. Often either the most dangerous or most tedious of maintenance tasks are given to Faunus workers who have had to struggle twice as hard to receive the recognition and acceptance of their human counterparts. When the Vytal Tournament is held and the stands fill with spectators, the audience is overwhelmingly human, with few Faunus having either the wealth or opportunity to spectate. Most egregious of all, however, is how the Menagerie, the sole homeland the Faunus can call their own, continues to be excluded from both Vytal Festival Commision, and denied the right of hosting the biannual event. They bled and died in the Great War, and then again in the Faunus Rights Revolution decades later during the height of the so-called ‘Time of Peace.’ Even now they bleed and die, oppressed and persecuted for daring to ask to live their lives and be treated as equals.</p><p>Amity is a symbolic place, one should not forget any of what it means.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Day late on this one. I got distracted by the chaos and couldn't really focus. Going to try and get entry number seven done by the end of today.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Favorite Side Character - Pietro Polendina</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Now hold on just a moment longer,” Pietro said. Carefully, oh so carefully, he turned the wrench a few more degrees, and stopped just as the bolt stuck in place. He glanced up at the young woman and saw the slight wince. No serious pain, he hoped at least. Fitting a new limb was always a delicate process, and he’d not yet a patient whom he felt deserved any amount of additional pain. It was a necessity of the operation, there’d always be uncomfortable feedback as circuits were hooked into nerves and tactile feedback was tested, but it still made his heart ache each time it happened anyway. It was his duty as a doctor to minimize that for his patients as best he was able, especially when he was close to finished.</p><p>“There, how’s that treating you?” Pietro said, his chair shifting as he leaned back.</p><p>The patient, a young bear Faunus named Kuma, flexed her fingers experimentally. A grin slowly started to spread across her face, and a light turned on inside her eyes. Pietro’s heart swelled as the girl hopped off the operating table, jabbing out with her new hand a few times just because she could.</p><p>She turned to him, tears in her eyes, and hesitated.</p><p>“Aww come here, I don’t bite,” Pietro said, spreading his own arms in open invitation. Kuma wrapped him up in a hug, arms squeezing almost painfully tight against his back, but he didn’t mind. She was still learning her strength, and he wasn’t gonna ruin this moment for her.</p><p>“Thank you,” Kuma said as she stepped back. She sniffed and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. “Thanks to this I can still support my family and, and maybe we’ll make it to- I don’t have any way to repay you for this but...”</p><p>Pietro chuckled.</p><p>“Don’t worry none about it,” he said. “Knowing I could help you is all the payment I need.” He nodded to the door. “Now go on, get. It’s late enough as is and I’m sure your family is worried.”</p><p>Kuma nodded and stepped for the door. She turned around, wrapped him in a hug one more time, then stepped out into the street.</p><p>Pietro just chuckled and set about cleaning up his tools. Sometimes he wished he could do more for the people of Mantle. But, for all his brilliance, resources, and respect, he was still just one man.</p><p>Best to focus on what he could do for those in need.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>He's just such a sweet, wholesome man. How can you not love him?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. AU: Time Period - West Virginian Coal Wars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Blake breathed in and breathed out. Her hands were shaking, and at every heartbeat her ears twitched from the blood racing through them. There was a taste on her tongue, that copper-tangy feel of adrenaline that had nowhere to go. The backstage was dark, almost like a mine-shaft. She’d never worked inside one of them, but she’d taken shelter in them more than once when strikebreakers had shown up to turn a rally into a battle. Dad had been upset at those more than a few times, fussing over her every time their groups had met up or made contact. They were still singing out there, starting on a rendition of Which Side Are You On. Why was she so nervous? She’d been to plenty of rallies before, given dozens of speeches at this point.</p><p>Fingerless gloved hands wrapped around her own, chapped and calloused fingers that stood out against Blake’s own. Blake looked up into lilac eyes, soft and expressive and filled with so, so much strength.</p><p>“Hey,” Yang said, “It’s okay. You’ve rehearsed this a dozen times. You’ve got it.”</p><p>Blake let out an unsteady laugh and leaned into her girlfriend’s embrace. To think, not just a girlfriend, but a human girlfriend. The Blake Belladonna of just two years ago would be horrified by who she was now. But this movement was about more than just Faunus rights.</p><p>“Well Rebel Girl, we’re about to go on,” an older, mature voice said. Blake stepped back and met Robyn Hill’s gaze. “You ready for this?”</p><p>“I am,” she said. This was more about just race or species. Her father’s contacts in the capital had let them know that the National Guard was being mobilized. The politicians Schnee and the other capitalists had in their pockets wanted to put everyone back in line.</p><p>This was more than just a strike now. This was war.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you haven't heard of them, the West Virginian Coal Wars were a series of strikes in the 1910s and 1920s. Most of famous of these is the Battle of Blair Mountain, where Strikebreakers had such difficulty handling the revolting miners that WV National Guard was called in.</p><p>This is much shorter than I would have liked it, but it's what I have.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. AU: Apocalypse - Modern Grimmpocalypse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The world was completely normal until black monsters with white masks showed up and started killing everyone.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>slight Bumblebee, modern setting</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yang put her back against the bookshelf, braced one foot on the wall, and pushed with her legs. The shelf toppled over, books scattering everywhere as the heavy piece of furniture blocked off the front door. No sooner had she stepped away than Weiss and Nora were there, shoving the living room couch up as a second brace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hope that’ll hold for a while,” Yang said. The door looked like it was made of solid oak, thick and heavy and resistant to moving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do things look?” she called up the stairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seems good!” Ruby called back down. “No monsters to the north.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do not see any to the south, although the trees don’t give me the best view,” Pyrrha added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The house they’d found was a positively luxurious log cabin set out in the middle of the woods. The trees were thicker to the south, with a downhill slope and a wide dirt road to the north. So shitty sightlines in general. At least it was winter, so no leaves to worry about. And the second floor was just two big bedrooms, with mattresses large enough for five to sleep comfortably on. Hell, the tub in the bathroom, when she’d glanced in there, was big enough for ten. Whoever owned this place had either been rich or- well no, probably just some rich snob who was likely dead by now. But it meant only two people were needed to keep a lookout while the rest set to fortifying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Basement’s stocked!” Jaune almost tripped as he came up the stairs. He held a collection of canned and dried out food in his arms. “Also saw a generator and I think maybe a water tank or something down there.” Yang recognized some of the stuff he was carrying from the disaster-prep brands Uncle Qrow would get. She felt a pang at remembering her uncle. His house had been empty when they got to it, and given how many people the black, white-masked monsters had killed already-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yang shook her head and walked towards the back. Bunch of paneled floor to ceiling windows, easy enough for the monsters to break through, if they showed up. But the curtains for them all ran on a single big line. Just lower it and it could serve as a bar to slow the things down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Blake, Ren!” Yang called out. “Found anything?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The quietest members of their little group came out of one of the first floors' side rooms, carrying several long objects between them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, good news and bad news,” Blake said. “Good news is the den back there had a bunch of weapons hanging on the walls, one of them’s even a shotgun.” She held the weapon out to Yang who gratefully took it and gave it a once over. She wouldn’t have to settle for punching anymore. The monsters were tough enough that someone always had to get into close combat with them, and a life of brawling and boxing meant she was well prepared for that. But it’d be nice to not have to get up close and personal with fangs and teeth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bad news is the rest are melee,” Ren said. He handed a sheathed rapier over to Weiss, who looked at the thing like it had murdered her dad. For the Ice Queen, that was a positive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well we only had like, five guns between us. More tools is always nice,” Yang let her face stretch into a smile. She glanced at Blake and had to doubletake. The pistol still hung from the shoulder harness she was wearing, but now there was a katana strapped to her waist, the handle and guard unmistakable. It went really well with the flare of her hips, and the skin visible in the space between jeans and shirt drawing Yang’s thoughts to </span>
  <em>
    <span>other</span>
  </em>
  <span> things...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you staring at?” Blake said, a touch of defensiveness entering her tone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yang flinched and looked up, a blush rushing to her cheeks as she realized she’d been staring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She coughed into her fist and looked away, to where Jaune was fumbling with the sword and shield he’d been given. “Sorry just- never thought I’d see an actual katana.” A few days of knowing someone meant it would be </span>
  <em>
    <span>extremely</span>
  </em>
  <span> inappropriate to comment on her appearance. Especially given the whole ‘end of the world’ thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blake didn’t look convinced, but before she could say anything there was the crack of a rifle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Monsters in the trees!” Pyrrha said. Two more shots. “Fifteen wolf monsters and two...Giant centipedes?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yang would have been incredulous, but the monsters had never been sensible ever since they first showed up. Still, she rushed over to the south side of the house, front side, and crouched by one of the windows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And to think, just a week ago her biggest worry had been final exams and projects.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Feel much better about this one. Made it up as I went, but it turned out nicely I think.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. AU: Horror</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>horror, no specifics to it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ruby’s breath sounded loud in her ears.</p><p>She held breath, tried to keep it shallow, even clamped her hands over her mouth and nose. Didn’t matter what she did, her breathing still filled the darkness of the closet. It rattled and shook, a harsh, rasping presence that made it hard to hear anything else. Even her own heartbeat was drowned out, leaving just gasping breaths that she had no control over.</p><p>There was a distant creak, and Ruby, body already impossibly still and rigid, stood motionless. Another creak. The fifth step from the bottom of the stairs squeaking, treated wood rubbing against the rusted iron nails that held it in place.</p><p>Another creak, another footstep. The fourth step groaning.</p><p>Ruby closed her eyes and ignored the burning in her lungs. She could hold her breath for a while, had done it plenty of times when going to the pool with Dad and Yang. Tears welled as she remembered her last sight of Yang. They didn’t spill. She refused to let them, even as her chest screamed in pain and dark spots danced at the edge of her vision. But it didn’t matter. The closet had only one exit. Only one way free.</p><p>She was strong, she was brave. She’d get through this, get out, so long as she just held her breath until-</p><p>More footsteps, quicker now. Third step, second, first, and then walking away, past the closet and further down the hall.</p><p>Ruby waited until the last possible moment before she breathed in, air filling her so fast that it made her head spin. It was all she could do not to gulp it down greedily, body screaming in relief at the much needed oxygen.</p><p>A footstep slammed down just outside the closet door.</p><p>“HeLlO fRiEnD rUbY~!” The thing that was Penny Polendina said.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I don't know what this is and I don't even particularly like it. Horror has never been my thing, and while it was an interesting challenge, trying to think about how to tell horror, I didn't enjoy it. So here's what I got.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. AU: Fantasy - Dragons & Monsters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The various guilds hunt the monsters that threaten the world, and most fearsome among them are the dragons.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Nuts &amp; Dolts</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“But...that’s just it. I’m not a real person.” Penny wasn’t looking at her. Her gaze was pointed down at the ground. Her fiery orange hair hung around her face and shielded eyes as green as stained glass. She held out her hands, torn and ragged, an offering to the gods in supplication for forgiveness. Instead of bloodied flesh, there were just scales that gleamed emerald green in light of the afternoon sun.</p><p>“I’m a dragon. A monster.”</p><p>It took a moment for her words to really register in Ruby’s brain. It almost didn’t seem real.</p><p>The young woman, an artificer who had dedicated her entire life to fighting the monsters of the world, looked up at the...dragon, standing right in front of her. The dragon who had been nothing but chipper and cheery to her. Who had been upset when people were hurt. Who had used magic and sword to defend dozens of towns alongside Ruby, fighting off monsters of every sort and stripe.</p><p>She reached forward and wrapped her hands around Penny’s fingers.</p><p>“Have you killed anyone?” Ruby asked. “Human, Faunus, Orc, or Dwarf?”</p><p>Penny bit her lip, but shook her head.</p><p>“Then I don’t care,” Ruby said. Penny flinched and looked up. Silver eyes met glass green, and stayed there in bafflement. “I've met plenty of people who are absolutely terrible, and I know you have as well. Yet they’re not monsters. They keep hoards of treasure and persecute anyone they please, but the Guilds don’t accept contracts to kill them. Plenty of them are nobles even, and get to decide how the kingdoms are run.”</p><p>Penny tried to turn away, freckled face darkening with some emotion that Ruby couldn’t place. She reached out and, gently but firmly, forced her face back to meet her. The muscles flexing just beneath the skin were terrifyingly strong, but Ruby wasn’t afraid.</p><p>“On top of that, you’re a good person. You get worried when someone’s hurt, you give emotional support to your friends, and you always, always defend the helpless.” Ruby smiled, and leaned forward so that their foreheads rested against each other. “You’re not human, but like heck you aren’t just as much a person as I am.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There's a lot of RWBY fantasy AUs that have dragons in one form or another, so I decided to take that and apply to my favorite pair of dolts.</p><p>Short and sweet on this one, but I like it at this length.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. AU: Sci Fi - Space</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>sci-fi, background Bumblebee</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Attention all crew, we will be dropping out of Luminal in T-minus thirty. All crew, please proceed to battle-stations, we expect the drop will be hot.” Captain Ozpin’s voice echoed through the loudspeaker system.</p><p>Ruby glanced up from her work table and had to bite back a sigh. Of course, just as she was really starting to get into the groove. The red head shook her head and stowed her tools away, barely listening as her team did the same with their own stuff. Weiss shoved stowed whatever history text she’d been reading back in its place on the shelf, and Yang and Blake tried to unconvincingly act like they hadn’t just been cuddling and kissing on the bunks. On normal ships fraternization wasn’t allowed, but the Beacon was anything but a normal ship.</p><p>Twenty minutes later, Ruby and her friends were all suited up and sliding into their strike craft. She ran a thumb over the plaque next to the controls, Crescent Rose sitting there in bright, bold lettering, and looked out the cockpit. The portside hangar, their hangar, was a scene of controlled chaos, technicians running back and forth, packing away dust-fuel lines, running last minute checks on their safety gear, and prepping the fighters for launch.</p><p>“Good morning Friend Ruby, Friend Weiss, Friend Blake, Friend Yang,” said a digitized voice.</p><p>“Good morning Penny!” Ruby responded with forced cheerfulness in her tone. Always best to try and keep a positive attitude right before a sortie. “You ready to kick some space monster but?”</p><p>“Affirmative, all of my systems are combat ready!” The shipboard AI responded. A holographic avatar of a young woman with ginger hair and freckled cheeks came to life in the corner of her vision, and gave her jaunty salute.</p><p>“Red team, sound off,” XO Goodwitch’s voice cut off Ruby’s reply, sharp and severe.</p><p>“Red-1, Crescent, ready to go,” Ruby said.</p><p>“Red-2, Myrten, standing by,” Weiss said.</p><p>“Red-3, Gambol, ready.”</p><p>“Red-4, Ember, prepared to kick ass!”</p><p>“We will be leaving Luminal speeds in T-minus one minute,” Goodwitch said, refusing to comment on Yang’s… ‘unorthodox’ callout. “Blue Team will sortie first, followed by Red Team, Green Team, Yellow Team, Brown Team, and White Team. Stand by for launch.”</p><p>“Getting into the fight right out of the gate, huh?” Yang said. “This is gonna be a fun one.”</p><p>“Don’t get too excited,” Weiss said. “It’d be troublesome to have to replace you.”</p><p>“Aww, the Ice Queen admits she’d miss me!” Yang’s smile was audible through her words. “That’s sweet.”</p><p>“Hardly,” Weiss scoffed. “I get more sleep at night, but Blake would be miserable.”</p><p>“All crew, prepare for Super Luminal drop,” Captain Ozpin said over the speakers, cutting off Blake and Yang’s choked denials. “In ten.”</p><p>Ruby breathed in and closed her eyes.</p><p>“Nine.”</p><p>“Eight.”</p><p>“Seven.”</p><p>She adjusted her grips on the control yokes, gloved fingers running over the worn leather.</p><p>“Six.”</p><p>“Five.”</p><p>“Four.”</p><p>She breathed out and let her eyelids slide open, gaze fixed forwards.</p><p>“Three.”</p><p>“Two.”</p><p>“One.”</p><p>Showtime.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. AU: Mythology - Illiad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rage, Goddess. Sing of the Rage of Cinder, black and murderous.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Pyrrha Nikos, arkos</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Great Pyrrha, with hair of fire and eyes of grass, stood solemn as she donned her armor. A cuirass of finest bronze shaped by the hand of her uncle Hephaestus, father of the forge. Swift sandals of precious leather, from her uncle Hermes, the Messenger. A laurel blessed by kind Hestia, mother of the hearth and keeper of Olympus.</p><p>With soulful eyes she bade farewell to her Jaune, and placed upon the lips of her love one last parting kiss.</p><p>In her hands were placed her weapons. Akouo the Shield, gifted by great Athena, her aunt and teacher. Milo the Spear, a priceless heirloom gifted by her father Apollo. With the first did she listen, taking a thousand blows and never yielding. With the second did she speak, taking the lives of a thousand foes to honor the gods.</p><p>The gates were swept open, and the most beloved daughter of Vale strode forth to meet godlike Cinder, blessed and invulnerable, undefeated and glorious.</p><p>None could face Swift-Footed Cinder and believe in victory. But only Pyrrha Horse Tamer could hope for it.</p><p>And so she marched out, to defend her home and pray for victory.</p><p>Oh such sorrow that would soon follow.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It's interesting. Despite Pyrrha being based on Achilles, her last fight against Cinder basically has her in the place of Hektor, greatest of Troy's warriors who stood little chance against Achilles, but went to fight him anyway because there was no real choice. That's where this idea came from.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. AU: Crossover - Exalted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>On her journey south towards Mistral, hoping to somehow find Winter and from there her teammates, Weiss awakens to a higher power.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Weiss Schnee, character study</p><p>More detailed notes at the end of the chapter, but Exalted is a niche TTRPG where the player characters are the titular exalted, mortal heroes blessed with the power of the gods to go out and change the world. This was a fun one to right, even if I doubt most will get what I'm talking about.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Weiss Schnee sighed as she looked out the window of the cargo ship and onto the ocean below. She’d done it, defied her father and ran away from home without giving thought to her place as a Schnee. No turning back now.</p><p>Being a Schnee had been the foundation for her life. Her identity for eighteen years, focused on living up to and upholding a legacy, redeeming it from the ruinous muck it had been dragged through. But that foundation had held her back. It kept her under her Father’s thumb, his role as patriarch and Atlas society demanded that she obey him and abandon her closest friends. To stay silent at the hypocritical callousness she’d seen. Of not speaking up and standing for all Vale, its defenders, and all the people still in need of help. But that had been too much. It had asked her to bow her head too low.</p><p>So she’d left. Cut out the name and deffy society to pursue what mattered most. Her friends. Her family. They were worth more than her name and all that came with it.</p><p>Two weeks since she’d made the decision. It still didn’t feel real.</p><p>She didn’t regret it, not then and not now.</p><p>But it was still so unbelievable.</p><p>She was taken from her thoughts by a rhythmic tap-taptap. A bird was in the cargo compartment with her, beak pecking away in curiosity at a dust crate. It’s plumage was a mix of silver, blue, and black. The colors swirled in on themselves in shimmering and twisting patterns that refused to stay still.</p><p>“Bold indeed,” the bird said, not pausing in its pecking.</p><p>Weiss blinked.</p><p>“To endure hardship for so long as you searched for your heart, only to abandon all you once valued when you found it.” There was an echo to the bird’s word, a deep ringing voice that reverberated beyond Weiss’s ears into her soul. “You’ve changed yourself, knowing true what you desired and running towards it with wings spread wide. You will make a fine champion indeed.”</p><p>The bird looked up, and instead of eyes, Weiss found herself looking into pools of night, swirling blackness filled with stars.</p><p>“What?” Weiss whispered.</p><p>“You do not know me, Child of Light and Dark. That is no sin. Know that I am Thousand Faced Luna, God of the Moon and rival of the Sun. You are my champion. My Chosen. You, who refused to be bent by the world, and instead bent it and yourself. Rise oh Price of the Earth and reshape all that would stand between your and the Blood of Your Heart, for you are Exalted!”</p><p>Then the bird was gone, and in its place Silver Mist filled the compartment. Weiss blinked, and in a moment that stretched into eternity felt energy rush through her veins. Cool drops of moonlight that kissed upon her skin, and with it came a swelling, beastial resentment that was near startling in how it was all encompassing. Anger at the lonely life she’d been forced to live. Fury at the judgements and expectations she could never live up to. Rage at being taken from her family by an egotistical bigot who only had thoughts for his own ego. Jacques Schnee had taken so much from her, and eighteen years of bitterness towards him swelled to the fore of her mind.</p><p>Then, white feathers dipped into her field of view, and Weiss snapped out of her thoughts.</p><p>She glanced over her shoulder, but the feathers moved out of her way. She glanced the other way, and caught a glimpse of yet more feathers shifting away. Then she saw her reflection, and the feathers that hung from the back of her neck. It looked like she was wearing a hairpiece of some kind, but on close examination it was obvious that they growing from the base of her scalp.</p><p>“What,” was the only thing she could think to say.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, so, explanation for what is going on in this.</p><p>Exalted is TTRPG where you play someone who has been blessed with the power of the gods to go out and do awesome things. Weiss here is specifically a Lunar Exalted, a collection trickster shapeshifters who come from all walks of life, and are usually iconoclasts, outcasts, and/or people who've endured great hardships. The reason Weiss has feathers is because all Lunars have a 'Tell' some distinctive trait that crosses through the Lunars many forms and shapes, hinting at who they really are, and giving the discerning eye a chance to see through the disguise.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. In Universe: Beacon Throwback - JNPR Homework</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>JNPR</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“...so you’ll need to see about setting up a camp which means?” Pyrrha let the question trail off, leaving the others to figure out the last parts.</p><p>Ren was almost unreadable, with only the clicking of pen giving away his contemplation. Nora looked like she was close to just giving up, wincing every time she even looked at the assignment for Wilderness Survival. Jaune, however…</p><p>“Well, we’d have enough material for at least one tent and sleeping cot that we could share, worst case. For a fire we’d just gather some kindling, open a couple ammo casings from,” Jaune paused and glanced then obviously thought better of it. “...you or Ren. Should be easy enough to use that to get a fire started and cook whatever supplies we have.”</p><p>“Heyyy,” Nora glared at their leader suspiciously. “What would be wrong with using one of Magnhild’s grenades?”</p><p>Jaune paused for a moment and coughed hurriedly into one hand. Part of Pyrrha wanted to cut in, but she didn’t know how to explain that a high explosive burn/lightning grenade wasn’t exactly suited to delicate work on the scale of starting a campfire. “Oh! Well, that’s uh, that’s because, um-”</p><p>“You’re our best defense against surprise Grimm ambushes,” Ren cut in. “No sense wasting a grenade for a fire.”</p><p>Nora transferred the squinty stare to Ren, who didn’t flinch and just stared her directly in the eye. Neither looked away, and  the silence began to stretch out.</p><p>Ren broke first, lips quirking upward at the edges. That stole Nora’s composure, and she quickly broke down into laughter, which brought Ren’s quiet chuckles out. Pyrrha and Jaune only lasted a moment longer before joining in with their teammates’ merriment.</p><p>Pyrrha was glad she had made such close friends here in Beacon. The Vytal Festival was only weeks away, but it would be fun to fight alongside them in the tournament. And then afterwards, they’d have three more years of adventures and learning. The future was looking bright indeed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Nothing really much to say. Just a light JNPR fluff piece.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. In Universe: Vacuo Outfits - Blake & Yang</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Bumblebee</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Blake was staring.</p><p>She shouldn’t have been staring but she really couldn’t help it. Honestly it just wasn’t fair.</p><p>“Is everything alright, Blake?” Yang asked. She fiddled with the edge of keffiyeh, the head wrapping’s brown outside contrasting nicely with the soft orange inside. It was so rare to see the blond brawler with her hair tucked away, but the current look wasn’t unattractive. A couple locks of hair had escaped from the cloth’s protective embrace, framing and emphasizing those soft violet eyes full of concern and worry.</p><p>Blake glanced away, a flush rising to her cheeks. “Uh yeah, sure. Just, just not used to seeing you like this.” She was wearing her own scarf, just a simple white headwrap with space for hears to poke through that trailed down the back of her neck.</p><p>“Haha well, don’t want to get sand in the hair, right?” Yang chuckled her own flush rising to her cheeks. She rubbed at her arms, fingers lingering on the purple scarf tied around her bicep. The new coat she was wearing shifted, layers of bright yellow and light brown cloth brushing against each other as she fiddled with the cloth. It was actually pretty voluminous, the light fabric hiding her body and working to keep moisture from escaping, but Blake didn’t mind. Her girlfriend could make anything look good with proper effort. A pleasant heat rushed into her belly at that thought. Her girlfriend. They were actually dating now. Together.</p><p>Blake giggled, chest pushing ever so slightly against the yellow scarves wrapped around her torso, keeping her white and purple coat closed.</p><p>“It looks good on you.” She took Yang’s hand with her own, and let their fingers laced together. Yang paused and then grinned at her, wide and honest and full of that beautiful strength Blake had gotten so used to seeing.</p><p>Yang leaned in, and Blake met her, letting their lips brush against each other.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Lot less clothing description than I had planned for, but then again I've never been for detailed descriptions of clothing. So I guess this will have to do.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. In Universe: Missing Scene - RWBY+AceOps Training</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vine’s arms lashed out and Yang slid under the branches of aura and rose into an uppercut. Elm stepped forward, rooted herself, and batted the strike aside with Timber’s handle. Blake covered Yang’s retreat, knocking away the follow up strikes. Before she could recover, Harriet was there, five strikes finding their way past her guard and forcing her away from her partner. Yang stumbled and slid, tried to catch herself, only for her arms to be knocked aside by Fetch swooping in from the side.</p><p>Crescent Rose cracked three times, the bullets sailing down range and forcing Marrow to forget about retrieving his weapon. Vine covered his teammate, reaching out with his semblance to yank Ruby’s aim of course for a few precious seconds. Weiss tried to intervene, but in a flash of lightning Harriet was there once again, delivering only a few punches before dashing away.</p><p>Yang shook her head and focused back on her own fight. She pounced forward onto Elm while Vine was distracted, firing off Ember Celica again and again as Blake lashed out with Gambol Shroud in its chain configuration. The Atlesian Specialist grunted and flinched, bending uncomfortably and her own semblance kept her feet rooted to the ground. She was more vulnerable without her partner’s support, unable to keep up with Blake and Yang’s teamwork. If they hurried, they could take her out of the fight and then.</p><p>A snap echoed through the training hall. “Stay!” Marrow shouted as his semblance activated.</p><p>Yang’s body froze up, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Blake going rigid as well. Elm and Vine didn’t even spare the two of them a look. They were on Ruby and Weiss in a flash, keeping the pair off balance as Harriet rushed in to deliver a flurry of punches again and again and again.</p><p>The buzzer sounded as the two shortest members of Team RWBY were taken out of the fight. Marrow dropped his hold with a groan, but the fight was basically over after that. Two on Four wasn’t much of a chance.</p><p>******</p><p>“Not bad,” Harriet said, sipping from her water bottle. “You kids did good, almost had us a couple of times.”</p><p>“Heh,” Ruby chuckled. “Yeah, but you and Marrow did a good job of alternating your harassments. Hard to focus down your powerhouses when you might get hit from unexpected angles. Then Marrow got the opening for his semblance and well...”</p><p>“Exactly,” Harriet said. “Having a strong core is good, but it doesn’t mean anything if they can’t do their stuff.”</p><p>Ruby nodded, already thinking on strategies for the next time. Keep the harassers occupied, and the can’t support the center. Weiss’d be best for Marrow, two on one and he couldn’t freeze them both. But that left the question of how to keep Harriet’s away from Vine and Elm.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A day late, but I took yesterday off to focus on DnD. I spent some time think of whether to do Blake's Bday two day's early, like what's in the Janurwby guide, or to go with Missing Scene. I wound up choosing the latter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. In Universe: Found Family - RWBYJNOR</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They fell asleep during the flight to Atlas.</p><p>Even in a Manta flying counter to the spin of the planet, it would take them hours to get there, and everyone had had a long day.</p><p>Blake and Yang were the first two to fall asleep, curled up so close together that they were snuggling in their sleep, foreheads pressed together.. They were still holding hands. Weiss was next. She drifted off while leaning on Blake’s shoulder, and wound up sprawled there. Jaune, Nora, and Ren had chatted for a while, but had slowly succumbed to the siren call of exhaustion themselves. Oscar had tried to leave them to their peace, but both Ren and Nora, in a half asleep daze, had grabbed him and pulled him into their own cuddle pile, such that all of JNR was wrapped around him like a living blanket. He’d had no choice but to pass out soon after. The young farmhand wasn’t used to the exciting life of a Huntsman.</p><p>Ruby smiled at the sight, taking the moment to appreciate her friends being there for each other. It struck her suddenly, but obvious in hindsight. These weren’t just her friends, they were her family.</p><p>Yang was her sister , and after everything they'd been through it was obvious she felt close to Blake and Weiss. But Jaune, Oscar? Nora and Ren? That was a bit of a surprise in a way. But not so much in others. No one on team JNOR had had to come on this journey, not even Oscar, but they had anyway. They’d risked life and limb alongside her, so of course she’d feel close to them.</p><p>Ruby’s mind went back to some of the stories Dad and uncle Qrow would tell her, about how you came to see your teammates as extensions of yourself, family who you trusted with your own children. It was nice, being able to put their words into proper perspective now.</p><p>She didn’t think she’d ever have any children, or at least she wasn’t planning on it. But she could definitely say she had that kind of trust for everyone on this ship.</p><p>Ruby sat down next to Yang, on the side opposite of Blake, and let her eyes drift closed. Sleep came soon after that.</p><p>It was nice, going to sleep with such a large family.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This wound up being another 'missing scene' almost. Still, worked out well, and RWBYJNOR sleep snuggles is always nice.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. In Universe: Blake's Birthday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Wait, it’s your birthday?!” Weiss sat up from the desk she’d been studying at and Ruby tumbled out of her bed.The Atlesian bunk beds were much sturdier than the ones they’d had in Beacon, but Ruby fell out of them much more often. The two glanced over to Blake, sitting next to Yang on her bunk.</p><p>“It’s no big deal,” Blake said, a flush rising to her cheeks. She brushed a lock of hair behind her one ear self consciously.</p><p>“No big deal?” Yang was already rising from her seat, her expression one of fond exasperation. “The day’s already almost over and we haven’t done anything to celebrate.”</p><p>“Yeah!” Ruby shot up from the confused sprawl she’d been in on the floor. “We did Yang and Weiss’s birthdays back at Beacon, and even for mine we got those sweetcakes before leaving Mistral. We gotta do something for you.”</p><p>“No, it’s alright, I wouldn’t want to be a bother,” Blake said, defensiveness rising inside her.</p><p>“Nonsense,” Weiss stood from her seat and walked over to Blake a few quick strides. “You’re our family and we love you. It’d be more of a bother to not do anything for you.” She pulled out her scroll and began to hurriedly tap away at it. “It’s too late to get seats at any concerts, but I’m sure there are several skating rinks open we could go to.”</p><p>Blake flinched at the thought of going out on her Birthday. Unbidden, her mind went back to previous years, back before…. Going out made her think of less pleasant times.</p><p>“Hey,” Yang’s hand fell onto Blake’s shoulder, and when she looked up she saw that soft, unspoken understanding in the blond’s violet eyes. “We don’t have to go anywhere if you don’t want to. How about just a cake, or popping on a movie of some kind. Just us, and maybe JNOR if you want.”</p><p>Blake stared up at Yang for a long moment and felt her muscles slowly relax. “Movie sounds good, maybe popcorn. And- just us, for this.” She loved JNOR, but Nora could be a bit much at the best of times.</p><p>Just her and her teammates, cuddled up under some blankets as a movie played. That sounded nice.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. In Universe: Far Future - Professor Oscar Pine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oscar went over his notes one more time, his fingers tapping out a fast and irregular rhythm on his desk. It was mahogany, fresh and new and much more expensive than anything he’d thought he’d ever own. Then again he didn’t exactly own it. The school did, and it was just his to use in this classroom.</p><p>Beacon had been rebuilt for some years now, resuming the tradition it had been forced to leave to the wayside as Vale recovered. It was a grandiose place, even if he’d gotten used to such things.</p><p>Oscar looked over the room that would fill with students in just a few minutes. The room that was already starting to fill. A few teams were already in their seats, facing Oscar’s desk and the board behind it. Almost expectantly. Panicked, he glanced at the clock hanging over the door and saw he had only a few minutes left before he had to start.</p><p>Oscar looked back his notes again, going over them even though he’d already read them at least a hundred times by now. Greet the students. Make introductions. Smile. Try to engage them in small-talk, course overview, address the textbooks and-</p><p>The clock clicked onto eight o’clock, and a wave students rushed in through a door that couldn’t fit more than one at a time. Oscar was treated to the sight of almost a dozen different teams rushing to find seats, their uniforms still mussed and disheveled. Boys and girls and enbies just barely seventeen years old. Even in the uniform they made a diverse and varied bunch, hairstyles and skin tones and demeanors. Part of him was happy at the number of Faunus he saw, although he knew Blake would like for there to be even more. Still, it was heartening to see the fruits of her efforts first hand.</p><p>When the commotion had died down and everyone had settled into the seats, Oscar stood and cleared his throat.</p><p>“Good morning, everyone,” he said. “And welcome to History and Ethics. It’s your first semester but we’ll be covering a lot of material.” Wait hold on, he hadn’t even introduced himself and was already getting into the syllabus what in the world was-</p><p>A group of four students burst through the door and fell on top of each other in an ungainly pile. Oscar found himself blinking in confusion.</p><p>“Uhhh, we’re not late are we?” Said the Faunus girl at the bottom of the pile, one rabbit ear flicking in embarrassment. The dark skin of her cheeks began to deepen further as the silence stretched on. The others in the pile, her teammates, all shared in the embarrassment, glancing at the stares everyone was sending them. It struck him then that they were young. Younger than him even. By decades.</p><p>There was a time when an old, tired voice would have provided a bit of dry humor in Oscar’s thoughts. But it had been a long time since he’d heard that voice. Even though the man was at peace, some part of the last host of Ozma was still sad at that.</p><p>But the past was the past. All there was to do now was move forward, and hope for the best.</p><p>A small smile stretched across Oscar’s face, and he let out a quiet chuckle.</p><p>“Please, do not worry Miss-” he glanced at his list of students. “Adel. We were only just starting. Please, why don’t you and your team take your seats.” He gestured to the front row, where four spots had been left vacant.</p><p>Once the tardy students had sat down, he cleared his throat to bring the room’s attention back onto him.</p><p>“As I was saying, welcome, students, to History and Ethics. I am Professor Oscar Pine, and I will be teaching this course and it’s follow-ups. I doubt many of you have heard of me, but I am an accredited and well respected Huntsman.”</p><p>He glanced around, taking in all the people looking at him. The prospective protectors of the world, given time.</p><p>“To start us off, I’d like to ask everyone to please consider. What is your favorite fairy tale?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. In Universe: Next Episode Prediction - Ruby angst</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>No. No no no. Nononono.</p><p>Ruby was down in the crater before she even realized she had moved, hands wrapping around Penny’s upper body. The green fluid- blood, it’s Penny’s blood and it’s leaking out and is she dying or- spilled over her hands and seeped into her clothing but she didn’t care. Sparks arced from the ends of torn wires and skittered across her skin in flashes of shimmering red Aura.</p><p>Ruby stood up and paused as Penny’s legs scraped across the ground, the sound scratching deep into her ears.</p><p>“Here,” Weiss grabbed the legs. Ruby hadn’t even noticed when she jumped into the crater. Blake helped them climb out, grabbing first Ruby and then Weiss by their armpits to lift them bodily without jostling Penny, Penny who was unconscious and bleeding what happened to Amity Tower, why is she so hurt she was supposed to be safe and away and out of danger- The next few minutes passed in a blur that barely registered to Ruby. All that mattered was the fragile, delicate girl made out of metal who could be dying right in front of her and she had no idea what to do to help.</p><p>When she blinked and took stock of her surroundings, Ruby was standing in Weiss’s room. Penny was laid out on some pillows, unconscious. Klein, Weiss’s butler or something, was bent over her.</p><p>It hit Ruby all at once. She couldn’t do this again. Couldn’t lose her a second time, especially after what Dr. Polendina had told her.</p><p>It took everything Ruby had to not break down into tears right then and there.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Wild Card: Meme - Rick & Morty Copypasta</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Adam,” said some random asshole on the street. “His character is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of the theories behind abuse and racial justice most of the nuance will go over the typical person’s head. There’s also his extremely practical outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily on the necessity of Faunus to rise up and kill all humans, for instance. The True White Fang understands this stuff; they have the hardened will and spirit to truly appreciate the things that must be done, to realise that they’re not just necessary- they’re key factors about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Adam and the White Fang truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the trauma in Adam’s gaslight-y catchphrase “Why must you hurt me, Blake?” which itself is a cryptic reference to all the harm done to him by Ghira Belladonna. I’m smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Adam Taurus’s genius cunning unfolds itself on the CCT network. What fools.. How I pity them. 😂</p><p>“And yes, by the way, i DO have an Adam Taurus tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It’s for Faunus’s eyes only- and even then they have to demonstrate that they’re truly dedicated to the White Fang’s cause (preferably a little bit less than me) beforehand. Nothin personnel kid-”</p><p>This random person with fake horns on their head is cut off by a gauntlet fist slamming into the side of his head. Ember Celica fires off, and he goes tumbling down the street. Yang turns around and glares.</p><p>“Anyone else wanna try and stan that stupid piece of shit?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fuck Adam Taurus. Fuck his stans.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Wild Card: OTP Prompt Generator - Nuts & Dolts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><strong>Your prompt:</strong> Ruby and Penny as the main characters in the last show you watched/book you read/game you played.<br/>Game: Supergiant's Hades</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The gate into the next chamber of Elysium slid open, and through the golden portal stepped Penny, Rebellious Princess of the Underworld, currently attempting to escape.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With mismatched eyes of green and red, and a burning laurel sat among ginger locks of hair, The Crown Princess of Hell struck an imposing figure. She looked around as her metallic feet trodded through fields of emerald grass, past the misty waters of the River Lethe and great statues of glory and triumph. Many were these monuments, carved into the exaggerated likenesses of great heroes whose deeds were legend even in the pits of Tartarus. Elysium was their afterlife, where the most vaunted of souls favored by the gods could spend eternity in glorious competition and struggle. Normally, when travelling up and out in search of an exit from the Domain of Hades, those inhabits would throw themselves at Princess Penny, eager to test their might against that of a goddess, even a lesser one such as she. But this time, there were none.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh hey Penny!” A young, cheerful voice called out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Penny turned, and there clad in a dusky red cloak hood with a scythe upon her shoulder stood Ruby, Goddess of Death.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Reaper of Souls floated towards the Princess of the Underworld, bobbing up and down in exuberance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Salutations Ruby!” Penny, she who sought to escape the inescapable, said. Her lips quirked up into a happy smile, guileless and sweet in a way strange to all areas of the Underworld. “It is so good to run into you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep!” said the one whom all mortals see upon their moment of death. “I had some time to spare between my duties up on the surface and checking in on my sister, so I thought I’d stop by and give you a visit!” A relic shaped into the abstract personification of a heart formed in the space above her hand, beating rhythmically as if it were still alive. “I heard you almost made it past your Father last time. Figured this might help a bit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Penny, whose fate it was to die endlessly as she fought her way out from the realm of her Father in near futile struggle, blushed prettily and took the Centaur Heart from her childhood friend. The power dissolved into her, strengthening both her vitality and her resolve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you Ruby,” Penny said. “If, um…if I do not succeed, this time that is, do you think you would perhaps be up for sharing some nectar with me? In the lounge?” She held up a small bottle of an orange liquid, that godly delicacy that tasted of warmth and light and comfort. It was very much forbidden within the realm of the dead and illegal for any to consume, and thus managed to find its way into the most curious and out of the way corners of the Underworld. This particular vintage had been found in chariot that, in life, had been a charioteer of Nemea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure thing, as soon as I’m on my next break.” Ruby said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sensational!” Princess Penny stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ruby in a tight hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uhhh, haha, I um- have to get going.” The face of the Reaper of Souls, Death Incarnate, turned as red as spilled mortal blood as heat suffused her cheeks. “M-more people are dying and need to be collected, so you know, gotta work and stuff. So see you whenever our da- I mean whenever I get back. Right. Yeah. Ummm.” The Goddess of Death snapped her fingers and vanished in a puff of smoke, off to deal brutal death upon the countless mortals whose time was up. Much more preferable than dwelling on the fact that she had a date lined up with her long time crush.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ruby has a crush on me?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erm, Penny exclaimed, her mind having pieced together the many situational clues which, when viewed as a whole, gave away the infatuation the Goddess of Death felt towards her all at once.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“INFATUATION?!??!”</span>
</p><p>
<span>Oh look, another door leading out of this chamber, right over there. The Crown Princess of Hell decided to </span>
  <em>
    <span>head out through there and not think about how she had suddenly learned this new information.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, Penny playing the role of Zagreus and Ruby as Thanatos. This was fun to write, especially since in my head all the not-dialogue text sounded like the narrator from the game.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Wild Card: Songs & Quotes - Charge of the Light Brigade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oblique references to soldiers suicidality following orders.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The drop ship circled around Atlas for the final pass, drawing nearer to its target.</p><p>The giant Grimm that sat on the edge of the island like some, black bloated tumor. Liquid Grimm continued to spill from its toothy maw, and from that rose hundreds of white masked monsters that rushed towards the defensive line. Atlesian soldiers and mechs coordinated their fire, rounds racing down the field to cut through as many targets as they could. Again and again the guns were fired, keeping the foe boxed into the kill field. Supply trucks fed them a constant supply of more ammunition, unloading supplies as quickly as they possibly could. Above, Manta Fighters and Crane Battleships dueled against Teryxs and Manticores, using every brief window of opportunity they could get to reign fire down on the ground hoard.</p><p>It wasn’t enough. </p><p>Here, a sabre’s claws tore through a soldiers torso before supporting fire turned it into mist. There, a goliath crashed into a hulking Paladin, one of its tusks piercing through the cockpit. It was promptly crushed under the volley of Manta missiles that fell from above. One by one the enemy was breaking through, a tide held back by ever weakening lines of soldiers.</p><p>It was a war of attrition, and for all their might, the Army of Atlas was only human.</p><p>But they’d been told to hold the line, no matter the cost, so they would.</p><p>Winter couldn’t see it from the pilot seat, but she could feel the bomb, sitting in the drop ship’s cargo bay.</p><p>She wasn’t afraid, even if her fingers trembled on the control yoke. She didn’t have any doubts, despite the churning sickness in her empty gut. She was fully capable, thanks to the exoskeleton that let her overpower her injured body. She was of sound mind, even though she had needed painkillers to not collapse under her own weight.</p><p>“Approaching the point,” she said. “Clear the way for the advance.” As her order filtered through the command chain, the fire on the ground redoubled. The injured were left where they were. Missiles were diverted to focus on a single flank. None paused to acknowledge the insanity of their actions. No one stopped to reason and wonder at the why. They were soldiers, and theirs was but to do and die.</p><p>The ship landed, and Winter Schnee prepared to charge into the mouth of Hell.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Theirs not to make reply/ Theirs not reason why/ Theirs but to do or die.</p><p>I'd known those lines since I was a kid, but I never knew of the poem they come from until about a month ago. And honestly, the context of that Poem perfectly fits Winter and the Ace-Ops as the prepare to heroically throw themselves into a suicide mission under the conviction that their commanding officer knows best, and isn't frantically scrambling to figure a way out.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Wild Card: Color Symbolism - Ruby Rose</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It is the color of bravery, danger, passion, love, anger.</p><p>It is fire, the burning drive of civilization to advance and grow, made possible by the safety and warmth it provides. It is the beating heart of a community, banked into embers and stoked again flames, shared from candle to candle and house to house, ever continuous in the ties with which it binds a people together.</p><p>It is blood, the life force that flows through the veins of every human and faunus who walks the surface of the planet. Rich or poor, old or young, tailed or eared, it all bleeds the same.</p><p>In every language, it is the third color to become distinct. The third to be named and separated from the progenitors of white and black.</p><p>When pale, it is soft and quiet; a gentle kindness that is there and ever present.</p><p>When bright, it is fierce and bold, a promise and declaration that demands all look upon it.</p><p>Red is the color that will not be silenced.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>short and simple, nothing much to add or say to this.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Wild Card: Suits/Fancy - Oscar and Jaune</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Oscar and Jaune go clothes shopping.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“And where are you going?”</p><p>Oscar blinked and paused halfway through the door. He glanced over his shoulder at Jaune, standing there with his arms crossed, a small frown on his face. For some reason, he felt like he’d been caught sneaking out or something. Only he had never done that before. His Aunt’s farm wasn’t close enough to any town or city to make such a journey practical.</p><p>“Um, out to the mall?” Oscar said, voice lilting up at the end, almost as if it was a question. He felt his face twist up into a strange, half-confused smile.</p><p>“And why are you going so late?” Whatever Oscar was trying to convey, Jaune clearly wasn’t having any of it.</p><p>“Because I need a suit for the Schnee dinner tomorrow and there’s no time during the day to go out?”</p><p>Jaune blinked, the stern expression of disapproval dropping away. “Oh, right.” He coughed into one hand. “Well I guess we should get going then.”</p><p>He stepped past Oscar and out into the hall.</p><p>“We?” Oscar said, hurrying to catch up with the older boy.</p><p>Jaune gave him an exasperated smile as he fished out his scroll. “The last time you went clothes shopping we all spent half the day looking for you. I’ll let the others knowI’m eye on you.”</p><p>“Right,” Oscar flushed and looked away. But he didn’t apologize.</p><p>They’d spent several hours wandering around the most affordable mall in easy access of Atlas Academy. Which still wasn’t that cheap, but the allowance General Ironwood gave them covered it. Ozpin’s accounts had been focused in Vale, so they’d be near impossible to access even if the old man had been present. Oscar kind of liked it that way, he wouldn’t know what to do with the kind of money the Headmaster of Beacon had saved up.</p><p>“Well, I think this evening went well,” Jaune said. He had gone with a white and red three piece tuxedo, a really nice one for something taken off the rack. Oscar had gone for something a bit simple, an olive green vest to go over a tan dress-shirt, with black slacks. He still had his old clothes tucked away, and could probably use those to accessorize the outfit. He didn’t want anything too formal, especially since his Huntsman outfit already looked the part to a ridiculous degree. It was nice, having more than just his work clothes to change into. His Aunt had never had a lot of money to go shopping with, so usually they’d stuck with essentials, farm tools and border defenses and the like.</p><p>“Yeah,” Oscar agreed. “This was nice.”</p><p>Jaune’s hand landed on his shoulder, and he almost flinched. “You know, after Am- the project is finished, we’ll probably have time for a more dedicated trip.”</p><p>Oscar glanced up at the older boy who, in their time in Atlas, had become something of a friend to him and smiled.</p><p>“Yeah, I’d be up for that.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I just love the idea of JNR all becoming Oscar's big siblings during their time in Atlas, Jaune especially.</p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Wild Card: Swap Day - Ozma/Salem roleswap</h2></a>
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    <p>Elphaba held in her gasp. It was an easy thing, given her millennia of experience. Even while she hung from the teeth of the shapeshifting, houndlike Grimm.</p><p>Still, she could not quite keep the horror from her face as the young, quiet boy stepped forward and into the light. He was young, couldn’t even be fifteen, with a gentle face and soft features. It was lost under the cruel smirk, the chalk-white skin, and the dark red veins that had started to creep their way up his cheeks. The eyes looked like they would have been kind once, but the black sclera and red irises gave it a dark twist. Not helped by the ancient malice she saw lurking behind them.</p><p>“Hello, Salem,” Ozma said as he stepped into the chamber. “Or, no...you’ve been calling yourself Elphaba for the past while, no? Playing at your games with the mortals.”</p><p>“I see you’re back sooner than expected,” Elphaba said. “And in the body of a little boy at that. Unbelievable.”</p><p>Ozma shrugged and walked around the perimeter of the chamber, seeming to loom despite his diminutive size. “I have little choice over who dies to fulfill the God of Light’s curse. It is cruel, but the blame is not my own. Really if you must blame someone then blame that Mistrali Champion and the Silver Eyed girl. They did quite a number to my old body, even if I managed to kill the former. Death was inevitable by that point, as was what would follow.”</p><p>“‘Old body,’” Elphaba growled. “Ozpin was so much more than just that.” Her heart still broke every time she remembered the promising young huntsman she had met so long ago.</p><p>“He had talent, I will grant, but he died like all the others once I took over.” Ozma stopped after he had walked a full circuit, standing in front of her. “But as much as I enjoy our banter, my love, I am afraid there are questions I must ask you. Like the password to the Lamp.”</p><p>Elphaba glared at the man she had once loved. “I’ve been locked up before, Ozma. I’m not afraid of you.”</p><p>The boy whose body Ozma had stolen smiled.</p><p>“Oh, you will be, my dear. I’ll make sure of it.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So I guess this counts as an AU as well as a swap. In this universe Salem and Ozma's story would be the same up until the Gods leave Remnant. In this timeline, Salem never jumped into the Pools of Grimm and instead Ozma does it at some point to try and permakill himself, either before or after finding Salem. Either way, they have a falling out, and take up opposite roles in the conflict.</p><p>Salem goes by different names/identities to hide her immortality. Ozma...isn't kind to the people who he reincarnates into.</p>
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<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Wild Card: Tarot/Astrology - Renora + The Chariot</h2></a>
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    <p>He sat beneath the sun and moon, upon a throne flanked by lions.</p><p>She stood on a chariot pulled by horses, beneath a starry sky.</p><p>Upon his brow was a crown of stars, worn and heavy with weight.</p><p>Within her hair sparked the light of heaven, driving her on and giving her strength.</p><p>He sat in quiet contemplation, his thoughts churning in upon themselves.</p><p>She moved ever onwards, chasing a purpose and goal to have.</p><p>In his lap was a winged shield, but he knew not what service it was for.</p><p>In her hands was the circled rod, but for whom it was she could not tell.</p><p>Then he looked up.</p><p>Then she stopped.</p><p>The two stared at one another and understood.</p><p>Upright they had persevered, journeying and traveling, supporting each other through trial and travail.</p><p>Reversed they had faltered, pausing to stop in uncertainty, for their hearts ached and they knew not how to be alone.</p><p>The man stepped forwards.</p><p>The woman stepped down.</p><p>Their hands linked, and together they were The Chariot.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The Chariot Upright: Triumph, journey, perseverance, adversity, vengeance.</p><p>The Chariot Reversed: Defeat, failure, stagnation, uncertainty, self-reflection.</p><p>Not a perfect match to their relationship, but no tarot is a perfect match and I feel at least it matches well enough to their relationship. Excuse my bad poetry, as it was all I could think to do for the prompt.</p>
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<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
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    <p>Well, this is it for Janurwby. I tried to get a partner or someone to work with for the last three days, as the prompts are free-form collaboration. But sadly they all fell through and nothing came of it. So this is the finishing point of my Janurwby. I think it went well, and I enjoyed meeting the self-appointed writing challenge every day. I missed a couple days here and there, but I got back on the horse the next day and kept going.</p><p>Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed some of the pieces! :)</p>
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